More specifically, she’s given up and moved out. But I suppose some background is necessary…
About a week ago, Greenleigh came home from kindergarten and announced that she had been on yellow that day at school. Yellow is part of the color behavior chart, where blue is the best, green is good, yellow is not so good, and red is a very bad day. So she was on yellow and, as her parents, we didn’t take it well. She went to time out when she got home, wrote her teacher an apology note, and we talked with her about how she could improve her behavior. As a child who has always been the teacher’s pet (both in pre-school and kindergarten up to this point), I was sure that was the end of it.
But it wasn’t.
The next day, Greenleigh came home on red because at lunch time the teacher found her crawling around under the lunch tables and when asked if she thought it was a jungle gym, Greenleigh replied “yes”. So she wasn’t just doing something she wasn’t supposed to do, she was also sassy about it. We immediately took away tv time and iPad time until she got a green. It was a Friday, so she had to go all weekend without these things. We sent her to time out. She wrote an apology note. We talked about a new positive reinforcement plan (that had worked before) involving a trip to the Disney store after collecting so many greens in a row. We got her grandparents involved. And on Monday, she came home with a green.
Followed by yellows on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
It was around the same time that Hazeline started having accidents at school. The first time was genuinely an accident and not her fault, but after that, they weren’t accidents at all. It was quite intentional. In fact, she’d tell me to pack her an extra set of clothes so she could have an accident. She went into school determined to have an “accident”, and sure enough, she did.
Yesterday, I was absolutely at my wits end. And apparently, our Elf on the Shelf, Pixie, was too. So she packed up her elf things (luckily elves don’t need many things and can easily pack their stuff in a tissue tied to the end of a candy cane) and moved out. But she was courteous enough to leave a note for the girls before she left.
And her absence was immediately noticed. Because despite all the Elf hate out there right now, my girls love their Elf on the Shelf. Greenleigh’s behavior definitely improved today. Hazeline’s progress remains to be seen, but it’s still early.
I hate that it’s come to this and I genuinely want their behavior to improve, but for now I’m going to enjoy one night where I don’t have to go flying out of bed at 2am to move the elf.
Has your elf ever packed up and moved out? Why?
I’m so happy that Pixie came back! I hope you have nothing but “green” days ahead of you!
Three green days in a row…Thank goodness!
Has Pixie the Elf returned?
Yes! She arrived back 2 days later, and what’s even better is that the girls worked to get her back. Greenleigh was on green at school 2 days in a row after she went missing, and Hazeline hasn’t had an accident since last Wednesday. We are officially doing better. I suppose I have the elf to thank?
Funny enough our elf is in a time out (stuck under a glass) until santa sees better behaviour in my son! We shall see how he Reacts in the am. Gotta do what you gotta do!
Interesting! I never thought about putting Pixie in timeout. Great idea! And just so you know, it only took 2 days for my kids to behave better. Hopefully your elf will be out of time out soon.
Poor Pixie, Hazeline and Greenleigh! I’m glad you have a plan of action because I’d be lost. And very smart move on Santa’s part having Pixie come back for a few days. Bravo Mama!
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